CUNA to Congress: Credit unions are ready to fight against elder financial abuse

Washington, DC (January 16, 2019) - Credit Union National Association (CUNA) sent a letter to the Senate Special Committee on Aging ahead of today's hearing entitled, "Fighting Elder Fraud: Progress Made, Work to be Done."

"Many credit unions provide a full range of financial services such as financial management, retirement planning, and credit counseling to their members," wrote CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. "The cooperative relationship between a credit union and its members often puts credit union employees in a vital position to detect suspicious financial activity related to seniors' accounts because employees tend to know their members well and are likely to recognize when something is amiss."

CUNA supports efforts to help protect seniors from financial exploitation as it is one of the most common forms of elder abuse. The trade association empowers seniors to make responsibility decisions regarding their financial lives.

The Senior$afe Act was included in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S. 2155), which CUNA, state associations and member credit unions were strong proponents of.

"Senior$afe represents an important step toward improving the ability of credit unions to protect seniors from unscrupulous activity by providing limited immunity for properly trained financial employees who disclose concerns about financial exploitation of senior citizens to the appropriate authorities," Nussle added in his letter to Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.).

CUNA also took time to thank committee leadership for their leadership in sponsoring the Senior$afe Act in the 115th Congress. Collins, who sponsored the Senior safe Act in previous Congresses,
worked with the Maine Credit Union League on a
number of
occasions on the topic of senior abuse.

About CUNA:

Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America's credit unions, which are owned by 115 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.